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Work on Plymouth’s £9m Moxy hotel development has slowed to a crawl and the building will not now be completed in 2021 as was planned.

Developers behind the project, on what was once the Pavilions car park, had expected the hotel to be ready by August, but now say it won’t be finished until early 2023.

The scheme has been hit with problems and delays since work began in June 2021 and it is understood no significant progress has been made on site since before Christmas.

Residents living nearby have said little activity has been seen and it has emerged that subcontractors have left the site. Before they pulled out, remnants of a Victorian sewer system, old railway sidings and a huge concrete block were found underground and had to be removed, delaying the build programme. The Covid-19 pandemic caused further delays.

Two concrete cores, one for a lift shaft and one for a stairwell, have been partially constructed and some of the building’s steel skeleton is visible.

Dutch company Vastint Hospitality is developing the six-storey building, which envisages a 200-bedroom hotel with associated landscaping, car parking, restaurant, bar and leisure facilities. The hotel, which will front onto the newly created Millbay Boulevard, will be run under Marriott Bonvoy’s Moxy brand.

Construction is being orchestrated by Lithuania-headquartered main contractor Mitnija, which said in 2021 it was planning to have the build wrapped up in just 14 months.

That won’t now happen and a spokesperson for Vastint Hospitality said: “Vastint Hospitality is indeed facing a delay on the Moxy site in Plymouth. Unfortunately we will not be able to open the hotel this year and we foresee the opening in Q1-2023.